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Whatinhell are you doing with a DOE issued clearance?
Wife Asks Court to Declare Fossett Dead (AP) link pending
The wife of millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, who disappeared while flying his plane in September in rugged Western terrain, asked a court Monday to declare him legally dead.
"As painful as it is for Mrs. Fossett, other members of the family and his many friends, it is time to initiate this process," said attorney Michael A. LoVallo, who filed the petition in Cook County Circuit Court.
The request was a step toward resolving the legal status of Fossett's estate, which according to court papers is "vast, surpassing eight figures in liquid assets, various entities and real estate," LoVallo said.
A hugely experienced pilot, a hi-tech search by hundreds of volunteers over 10,000 square miles that has turned up six plane wreckages... and still no trace after four months. Damon Syson reports on a missing millionaire - and how a conspiracy theory is born.
Since Fossett disappeared, the bars of Reno have been abuzz: "he must have seen something he wasn't meant to"; "he's in Panama – like that English canoe dude"; "he's been abducted by aliens" (this is, after all, not far north of Area 51, one of the most secretive places in the world and the subject of UFO speculation).
The second theory is that Fossett suffered a medical emergency in mid-air, such as a heart attack. "Perhaps very late into his flight," says Ahlstrom, "after the last radar ping, something happened to incapacitate him.
Steve Fossett declared legally dead
A Cook County probate judge today declared wealthy Chicago adventurer Steve Fossett legally dead, five months after his plane disappeared over the Nevada desert.
Fossett's wife, Peggy, fought back tears as she told Circuit Judge Jeffrey Malak that at first no one who knew Fossett could believe he was really gone.
"He was a survivor," testified Fossett, occasionally dabbing her face with a tissue. "Everybody thought he'd come walking down the road one day and have another story to tell."
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Some of daredevil Steve Fossett's accomplishments.
-- September 1985: Swims the English Channel, crossing from France to England in 22 hours, 15 minutes.
-- March 1992: Finishes the Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska, covering the 1,165 miles in 14 days, 11 hours, 58 minutes and 18 seconds for a 47th-place standing.
-- February 1995: Sets the world distance ballooning record with a nonstop flight 5,435.82 miles from South Korea to Canada. It was the first solo balloon flight across the Pacific.
-- June 18-July 2, 2002: Becomes first person to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon, taking off from Australia, and crossing the finish line 13 days, 12 hours, 16 minutes and 13 seconds later, covering an estimated 19,428.6 miles. Made five previous attempts in 1996-2001, including an August 1998 attempt in which he went 14,235 miles in eight days and 13 hours before crashing in the Coral Sea.
-- April 2004: With a crew of 12, breaks the round-the-world sailing record by six days (58 days, nine hours, 32 minutes and 45 seconds).
-- March 2005: Becomes the first person to fly a plane solo around the world without stopping or refueling, covering 23,000 miles in 67 hours.
-- February 2006: Completes the longest nonstop plane flight in aviation history, flying 26,389 miles in about 76 hours.
-- August 2006: With a co-pilot, claims a world glider altitude record of 50,671 feet during a flight over the Andes Mountains.
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